Zurich Insurance finance chief Pierre Wauthier did not comeunder “undue pressure” before his suicide, the firm said on Monday,citing results of an investigation into his death that it hopeswill wrap up the scandal before earnings next week.

The findings of the investigation, initiated and overseen bySwitzerland's financial market watchdog, appear to lift any blamefrom Zurich's high-profile former chairman Josef Ackermann, aprevious boss of Deutsche Bank.

Zurich, which has championed a “boring” image in recent years,was shaken by the death of 53-year-old chief financial officer(CFO) Wauthier in August and the subsequent resignation ofAckermann. Wauthier blamed Ackermann in a suicide note for puttinghim under pressure, a source said.

Switzerland's FINMA watchdog found “no indication that the CFOwas subjected to any undue or inappropriate pressure” by thechairman or any other decision maker, Zurich said on Monday.

The results confirm a report by Reuters on Friday.

A separate review into the presentation of Zurich's financialfigures, begun by the Swiss regulator and conducted by auditingfirm PricewaterhouseCoopers – Zurich's regular auditor - found their presentation to be “appropriate”, the firm added.

“We are still deeply saddened by the loss of Pierre Wauthier andwe are unable to explain the motivation behind his tragicdecision,” Zurich's chairman Tom de Swaan said in a statement.

The Swiss insurer has been keen to put an end to speculationabout the suicide and the presentation of financial figures beforeits third-quarter results on Nov. 14 and an update for investors onDec. 5 on targets the firm will likely miss, though analysts saidthe findings of the reports were largely expected.

“Investors will be looking for a set of clean figures in thethird quarter after a number of quarterly disappointments ofone-off negative items, and that's what is needed to regainconfidence,” said Daniel Bischof, an analyst at Helvea.

Zurich's shares fell 9 percent in the two weeks following itssecond-quarter earnings, but have since recovered. They were littlechanged by Monday's announcement, trading at 251.3 Swiss francs by1250 GMT.

TARGETS

Conducted by securities law firm Homburger, the review intoWauthier's death involved evaluating documents and correspondence,as well as interviewing colleagues, Zurich said.

Wauthier's widow said she was not aware of the report's findingswhen contacted by Reuters on Monday.

Zurich declined to comment on whether the Wauthier family hadbeen informed of the findings or had received a copy of the report,saying it was a confidential matter.

At the time of his resignation, Ackermann denied puttingpressure on Wauthier, but said later it would not have beenpossible to carry out his duties as chairman with the “requiredresolve”.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday thefull reports would not be made public.

Sources have told Reuters that Ackermann clashed with Wauthierin the run-up to second-quarter earnings, when the company saidmeeting three-year targets for its general insurance and U.S.business Farmers, which include goals for profitability and costs,would be “challenging”.

In a meeting in mid-August, a day before the release of thoseresults, Ackermann insisted that Wauthier make changes to theresult presentation, leading Zurich to signal a lack of progress onbusiness targets.